A Soul Under Mortar Fire
by LBellersen
Summary: Private Joann Sobel, sister to Herbert Sobel of Easy Company manages to get herself into the 101st airborne. Here she meets some of the best men and friends she ever has, but could it be more than friendship with one of them?
1. Chapter 1

_**Hi, so I'm starting this and I promise I will actually finished this fanfic, unlike all the others I have started but never finished. So yell at me to keep me motivated or something. **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Band of Brothers, this is purely for entertainment purposes. This is based off of the HBO miniseries. No disrespect is intended towards the real men of Easy company. **_

_**This chapter is kind of a short introduction to the story. Please review and let me know what you think :)**_

June 6, 1955

I lit myself a cigarette before sitting at the typewriter.

"Where are you starting?" _he _asked. Him, the reason I woke up in the mornings, the reason I lived and breathed.

"At the beginning," I responded. He nodded, kissing the top of my head before setting down a coffee for me.

...

June, 1942

"Miss Sobel, I hope you realize that enlisting a woman is not something I should take lightly. I understand that with your brother in charge of Easy company you'll be in capable hands. However, you have no qualifications that make you a necessity for the 506th, or even the 101st." Colonel Sink was attempting to reason with my request to join the 506th.

"Major General Lee did approve my request sir; I know fluent German and French, and basic medical care." I replied with the same information I knew Major General Lee had already told him.

Colonel Sink sighed, "Your brother is training what is going to be the best company in the Regiment. I hope you can live up to his standards as well as mine."

"Sir?"

"I'm placing you in Easy Company, Private Sobel."

"Yes, sir."

"Go with Private Gordon to collect your uniform and other necessities and have him show you to your barracks." Colonel Sink stood to salute and I mimicked his actions before turning to leave.


	2. Chapter 2

**_So here's chapter two. It's a bit longer, and a bit awkward, but once we get a bit into the story and I can integrate Joann in better it should (keep your fingers crossed) all flow smoother. _**

**_Review please? :)_**

Instead of taking me to my barracks, Private Gordon took me to my brother, the one-and-only Lieutenant Herbert Sobel.

"Lieutenant Sobel, sir. Private Sobel reporting for duty." I said after he allowed me in.

"Joann what in God's name are you doing here?" he looked at me with a face plastered in horror.

"Joining the Paratroopers, Colonel Sink placed me in Easy."

"I will not tolerate this. I'm going to tell Colonel Sink you're leaving right this instant." My brother attempted to push past me, but I grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Lieutenant Sobel, I wouldn't recommend that, I've earned the right to be here just like all the rest of the men."

"Fine. But _do not_ expect me to baby you, little sister. If you wish to be like all the rest of the men, you will train like all the rest of the men. And let me make this very clear to you: no fraternizing with the men. The last thing this company needs is a pregnant woman."

I took a deep breath to keep myself from gritting my teeth. "That is way out of line, Lieutenant, and you know I would never do that."

My brother just brushed past me, and I let him, turning to leave behind him as well.

I followed him, still carrying my things, around a corner where the entire company was standing in the hot Georgia sun.

"You people are at the position of attention," he called out, and I watched as they all straightened at his words.

He went around berating the men for various things. I took notice of each of the men. The shortest was Private Perconte, caught with creases in his pants, George Luz was pretty short as well. Sergeant Lipton was found with loose threads on his chevrons. As I looked over each of the men, trying to pick out distinguishing physical features from under each one's helmet, while my dear brother looked over each man in search of any possible mistakes.

Lieutenant Sobel continued to shout at them, revoking all weekend passes before turning to me. "This is Private Sobel, and _she-_" he added an extra sneer to emphasize his hatred "-will be joining Easy." I began to turn red as all the men's eyes shifted to look at me.

"Change into your PT gear, we're running Curahee." Lieutenant Sobel finished, then turned to walk away.

"Second platoon—fall out," called one of the taller men, who after watching his men return to their barracks, turned to me. "Private Sobel, I'm Lieutenant Winters." I saluted him, and he reciprocated the action. "Let's go find you a bunk."

We walked into a room with rows of beds and men tying shoes. Lieutenant Winters found me an empty bunk at the end of the row to the left. Luckily, under Private Gordon's advice, I had already changed into my PT gear, the shortness of the shorts making me uncomfortable. I placed my bag-o-stuff on my bunk before following the men out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hello :) So i'm still in the awkward, introducing-everybody-and-trying-to-figure-out-whe re-this-story-is-actually-going limbo space, but I promise it'll start flowing smoother soon (but i'm pretty bad at keeping my promises, so maybe you should pray for me). I kind of feel like Joann has no personality, or maybe thats just because I made her personality like mine? (and i have no personality) So please let me know what you think of her! Thank you for the reviews so far, they make me smile :) I hope you enjoy this chapter, I took up 4 1/2 pages in my notebook to write, so it's a bit longer. It's still pretty short though, so my apologies. I was going to add the march into this chapter, but I kind of need to take a break so yeah no, sorry. **_

_**Please review, as i said before, they make me smile :) **_

Curahee was a mountain—3 miles up, 3 miles down—that didn't really mean "We Stand Alone." No it meant something more like "Welcome to Hell." Lieutenant Sobel had the men responding to what I think was his attempt at motivating questions.

"What Company is this?" He shouted.

"Easy Company!"

"And what do we do?"  
"Stand Alone!"

Shortly after he said this one of the men up front tripped, and my brother in all his infinite wisdom, shouted for the men to "not help that man!" Guess he was taking the whole "stand alone" thing a bit too seriously.

"You have thirteen minutes to get to the top of this mountain if you want to serve in the paratroopers." He called out, giving me a pointed glare. "HI-YO SILVER!"

I stayed with Winters and Second Platoon—my unofficial platoon—all the way up the mountain. I heard Winter's encouragement and Sobel's disappointed remarks.

"…That may be good enough for the rest of the 506, but that is not good enough for Easy Company!" Sobel was calling out as I smacked the plaque at the top of the mountain. "I expect more from you Private Sobel!"

On the way down the mountain I focused solely on the head in front of me and my own breathing.

Once everyone was finished we were ordered back to our barracks to change into our uniforms and gear up, a low groan rippled through the company as the man next to me –I think it was George Luz—murmured "not another march." The entire walk back I worried about how I was going to change.

All my worry was for naught, however, as I noticed someone (it must have been Colonel Sink, as I knew my brother wouldn't do such a nice thing) had taken out one of the beds across from mine in the corner, and erected a tent in its place. I quickly changed behind it, shrugging on my pack, and grabbed my rifle and helmet. I sat on my bed while the rest of the men talked together while waiting for orders.

"So, what's it like growing up with that bastard?"

I turned my head towards the man talking to me. He had thick, orange-red hair.

"Let's just say he hasn't mellowed out with age." I replied with a shrug.

"So he's always been this bad, eh?" A man behind the first commented. The second man had dark hair and eyes, and a strong, square jaw. I also sound as though he had a philly accent, but I could be wrong there.

"Well he went to Culver Academy for high school, which was the next county over, and he is five years older than me. So I guess so, I mean we really didn't hang out or anything when we were little either."

"Damn. Oh, hey I'm Bill Guarnere, by the way." The second man said, and nudged the red-head.

"Oh yeah, and I'm Don Malarkey."

"Joann Sobel," I replied with a smile.

"Alright Joann, let's go introduce you to the guys!" Guarnere pulled me up from my seat on my bunk.

Over the next ten minutes, I was introduced to all the rest of the men, names and face swirling around me: Tipper, Muck, Cobb, Toye; they all greeted me with a smile, or as with Cobb, a sneer.

"Don't worry about him, he doesn't know how to treat a pretty lady," one of the taller, skinnier men commented with a wink. I want to say his name was Liebgott. All of the men—minus Cobb—seemed to take me in as soon as they realized I was nothing like the one man they hated above all others (except maybe Hitler). That same man (not Hitler) who was now ordering them to march 12 miles on a Friday night.


	4. Chapter 4

**_So you get another chapter today and it's pretty long (6 1/2 pages handwritten holy crap) because I will not be home tomorrow :( so i can't update, or if i do it will be pretty late at night. Surprisingly, I'm actually relatively happy with this chapter. But I don't know. Let me know what you think of it all :) _**

"I'm gonna say something," Bull Randleman, the ridiculously tall man in front of me suddenly said. We'd been marching in the dark for what felt like forever, not allowed to drink from our canteens, and surprisingly, missing Lt. Sobel and his "motivational" questions. Or maybe we were missing having a physical thing to place our anger upon, unlike now where it was just festering inside of each of us without a specific target.

"To who?" George Luz responded to Bull's outburst.

"Liuetenant Winters!" Bull called out.

"What is it?" Winters responded.

"Permission to speak, sir."

"Permission granted."

"Sir, we've got nine companies, sir."

"We do."  
"How come we're the only company marching every Friday night, full pack, in the pitch dark?" Bull asked.

"Why do you think, Private Randleman?" Winters asked. I could tell he was curious about the answer that was to come.

"Lieutenant Sobel hates us, sir." Was Bull's reply.

"Lieutenant Sobel does not hate Easy Company, Private Randleman." He paused. "He just hates you." Winter's answer caused a few of the men to snicker.

"Thank you, sir!" Randleman replied.

We continued marching, tired and bored. Not five minutes after Bull and Winter's conversation, I could feel someone flicking at the two brown braids that were peeking out from my helmet and laying against my back. Glancing back, I caught Liebgott smiling at me with a look of fake innocence. I just turned around, shaking my head.

We finally made it back to camp where Lieutenant Sobel was waiting not-so-patiently for us. "Lieutenant Winters I want canteens out of belts with the caps unscrewed." Sobel ordered Winters.

"Easy Company, canteens out and open," Winters relayed to us in a more concise manner than Sobel.

"On my command they will pour the contents on the ground."

"On the CO's command you will upend your canteen."

"Now Lieutenant," Sobel ordered.

"Pour them!"

We all flipped over our canteens, eyes trained forward, but every last one of us yearning to reach out and drink some of the water cascading down.

Christenson had apparently drunk from his canteen, and Lt. Sobel was having a fit over it. It would have been entertaining if I wasn't so tired. Of course, it wasn't Christenson I was laughing at, but rather my brother's ridiculous over-reaction.

We all watched helplessly as Lt. Sobel berated Winters. I couldn't focus on what he was saying, however, as the remainder of my energy was being spent trying to remain upright. Luckily we were soon dismissed and I was able to set my stuff down, take my boots off my aching feet, and fall asleep still dressed.

The next morning came too soon, and I found myself sitting to a breakfast in the mess hall with Luz, Perconte, Toye, Guarnere, and Malarkey.

"So why the hell did you join the paratroopers Joann?" George asked.

"Well, thanks to Sobel I had an in, and jumping out of an airplane sure beats cooking and cleaning." I responded.

"You cooked? Please tell me it was nothing like this slop." Guarnere commented.

"Nah, I made the best falafels in the neighborhood." I replied sarcastically.

"I would kill for one of those deep-fried goodness right now." Liebgott added, plopping down on the bench next to me. "I see today you are still sporting the ever popular –what is this called?" He asked me pointing to my hair, which like yesterday, was in two French braids.

"This, my dear apprentice, is called a double French braid. But hey, I thought you were a barber?" I teased lightly.

"My dad was not me, but yeah I cut people's hair, I didn't style it or whatever." He responded.

Later that day we found ourselves jumping out of a mock plane into a sand feet just a few feet below.

"You just broke both your legs Private Gordon." Lt. Sobel said to the man who jumped in front of me. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No, sir!" Private Gordon called back. Now it was my turn.

"Stand in the door." Lieutenant Sobel said, not paying attention to who it was.

"Go!"

I jumped, calling out "1000 2000 3000 4000" before landing and rolling over to stand up. I glanced at Lt. Sobel, but he completely ignored me and my jump. Realizing this was as close to a compliment I would ever get, I just jogged away to the back of the line.

Next we raced through an obstacle course of sorts. It consisted of ropes tied together in a grid pattern, ready to be high-kneed through, wooden boxes to crawl through and roll out of, a wood-log wall to climb over, wire to crawl under, and pig gut pits to roll through. We all sprinted through it, grumbling and hating every single second.

We all found ourselves watching Private Gordon being yelled at by Lieutenant Sobel. We all cringed and winced with him as if we too were being yelled at. And we all suffered his punishment with him, running up and down Curahee with a full pack and gear. I guess once you roll in a pit of pig-guts with someone you truly become his brother.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hello :) Hope you enjoy this really long (like 1,500 words) chapter. I don't particularly like it, so maybe you will? **_

_**Please review, they motivate me to keep writing and make me happy and I will love you forever if you do :)**_

A few exhausting weeks later we came into our barracks after PT to find our foot lockers's contents splayed all over our cots and the floor.

"God damn," Joe Toye comment from his position behind me.

"Hey I heard Sobel was—" George let out a whistle as he came pushing and shoving into the room. "What happened here?"

"A tornado came through. What about Sobel?" I questioned.

"He's been promoted to Captain." George replied, still staring at the barracks.

A collective sigh ran through the group at George's news. " I guess we should get cleaning." Guarnere suggested. I nodded, sighing again as I began placing my "feminine products" back where they belonged.

The next day was met with good graces on Captain Sobel's part. We had a light PT morning and expected classroom instruction that afternoon. If we only knew…

* * *

I was sitting across from Grant watching all the men shovel spaghetti into their mouths.

"Why aren't you eating?" Liebgott asked.

"I don't like tomato sauce." I replied, shrugging.

He gave me a confused look. "You freak of nature, if ya don't want it, I'll take it." He said, reaching for my food.

I swatted his hand away. "No, I'll eat it." I didn't really have the option to be picky, I was starving. Joe looked deflated, but not half a second later he was back to shoveling the noodles down his throat. Meanwhile, at the table behind us I overhead Guarnere and Perconte arguing over whether or not it was really spaghetti, which was a fairly entertaining conversation.

But alas, our heaven was shook, causing us all to fall back to Earth as recently-promoted Captain Sobel strode in.

"Orders changed! Get up!" He screamed at us, all of us standing on his order. "Lectures are cancelled! Easy Company is running up Curahee! Move!" We all rushed, hopping over our benches to get out of there before Sobel could add on to our punishment. Our crime? Joining the Army.

On the way to our barracks to change I overheard most of the men cursing his name.

"How is it you're so sweet—" Bill paused when he caught sight of the glare I was sending his way. He gave me one of his ridiculous smiles before continuing, "—and couldn't hurt a fly, although you could probably shoot the wings off of one," I knew he added the comment just to get back in my good graces after the "sweet" accusation. Without bragging, I'll admit it's true. The boys all joked I was the best women shoot in the company, which wasn't saying much obviously, but I was really only second to Shifty, who was without a doubt the best shoot in the company. "And your own kin is the reincarnation of the devil?" Bill finished his observation.

"I almost 100 percent sure I was adopted. I mean, we don't even look alike, Herbert and I, and I'm the only one in my family with blue eyes."

"Yeah, you sure are a hell of a lot prettier."

Since I had only eaten about a quarter of my spaghetti—in comparison to Hoob who had gotten thirds—the run left me only slightly crampy.

Sobel of course, added to our misery by mocking us, telling us we weren't good enough.

"Private Randleman you look tired. There's and ambulance waiting for you at the bottom of the hill! It can all be over right now, no more pain, no more Curahee, no more Captain Sobel!"

"Private Sobel, you don't belong here. Wouldn't you much rather be home cooking and cleaning for you sweetheart?" It took all my will not to tackle my own brother right there and then. God bless George Luz, though, because he decided to start singing, the rest of us joining in.

We pull upon the risers

We fall upon the grass

We never land upon our feet

We always hit our ass

Hide tidee, Christ almighty

Who the hell are we?

Zim zam, goddamn!

We're Airborne Infantry!

I turned and saw that Captain Sobel had been left in the dust, a look of utter exasperation on his face.

We pull upon the risers

We fall upon the grass

We never land upon our feet

We always hit our ass

Hide tidee, Christ almighty

Who the hell are we?

Zim zam, goddamn!

We're Airborne Infantry!

* * *

This was it, the day of our first real jump. And holy crap was I quaking in my boots. Why the hell did I sign up to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?  
"So we feel like we're ready to be Army paratroopers?" The man detailing the jump asked.

"Yes Sergeant!" We all called out in response.

"I hope so. This will be the first of five exits from a C-47 aircraft scheduled for today…" the Sergeant in front of us continued to talk, but I only half-listened, because holy shit this was _actually happening. _

We all sat in our planes, I was sitting next to Doc Roe. Roe had managed to make it through all of boot camp only talking to the men maybe twice. Nobody knew much about him, he was awfully laconic, and people like Malarkey more than made up for his lack of words. But those few times he did talk, all ears were on him, soothed by his Cajun-accent. Doc Roe had this way about him that made every man instantly calm under his touch. Every time I started shaking on the way to the DZ, Eugene would place his hand on my arm, and I would calm down.

Finally the orders came to get ready and hook up. I found myself checking Shifty's equipment as Eugene checked mine. We all shuffled forward after sound off as Lipton stood in the door. He jumped, as did the three men after him and then I was the one in the door.

"Go! Go! Go!" Without a second thought instinct took over and I jumped. My eyes squeezed shut against the rush of air those first four seconds until my canopy deployed. I built up the courage to look down and was graced with the landscape around me. I landed on my butt. I pulled in my parachute and made way for the rendezvous—ready for four more jumps.

* * *

That night we were all in the bar celebrating. I sat next to Grant and across from Bill as he chugged his beer, revealing his jump wings between his teeth. I turned my attention to the bar where a very drunk Luz was trying to imitate Captain Sobel, and getting too close for comfort to Toye. Colonel Sink came in and gave a very succinct speech and then a toast: "Curahee!" Leaving me now standing between Popeye and Liebgott and after Colonel Sink left Liebgott grabbed my waist and spun me around. I stared up into his beautiful –no they were not allowed to be beautiful—eyes.

"Dance with me Joann." He nearly begged, giving me his puppy dog look—he knew I couldn't say no.

"As you wish." I mock curtsied before my placing my hands on his shoulders as his found my waist again. See I had had a slight crush on Joe Liebgott from the beginning, but nothing could –would—come from it. But dancing with him, even if he was drunk, was a bit of a dream come true. I heard whistles around us and then I was passed to Perconte, shattering my little fairytale land.

Now Perconte is about an inch shorter than me, so my 5'6" frame found dancing with him a bit awkward. I was passed along from partner to partner, finding my way back to Liebgott occasionally, Bill a few times, and even George Luz joined in on the fun that was stepping on my feet. Around 2 in the morning we started trickling out of the bar. I led a very drunk Liebgott back, avoiding sloppy kisses from him and other soldiers *cough*-paratroopers—passing by.

* * *

It was a very groggy morning for most, I just laughed at George's cries and grumbles for some to "just shoot me!" and Malarkey rushing to make it to the latrines in time.

"Hey Joann, how come you're not hungover?" A drooping Bill asked.

"Well, my dear Bill, I do not drink."

"What? Why on Earth would you not drink?"

"Well, I'm looking at quite a few fine examples right now." He just rolled his eyes.

I spent the rest of the morning sitting in my bunk reading the _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_, which my mom had just sent me and I had to hide since it was non-regulation. I glanced up occasionally to watch a very flustered Eugene run around not knowing what to do to help. My entertainment ended, however, when a Lieutenant Lewis Nixon—looking more than a little hung over himself—strode in.

"Pack up, boys—" he started,

"and Joann!" someone, probably Shifty, cut in.

"—and Joann, we're moving out." He gave a nod and ducked back out the door.

We all just stared at his retreating form and each other until Cobb rolled over and up-chucked onto the floor.

"Well shit."


	6. Chapter 6

_**So in case you haven't noticed, chapters are going to be coming in slower than before. I'm going to be really busy for the next few weeks so sorry about that. **_

_**Also, I kind of feel like Joann is a bit of Mary-Sue, which wasn't my intention, and I'm sorry if you find her to be. I'll try to add some flaws to her and make her less perfect. **_

_**Please review and let me know what you think :) Reviews motivate me to keep writing, and give me good ideas for what to do next, so I appreciate each and every single one of them!**_

_**I'm not quite happy with the wording of this chapter, it feels really awkward. Also, I have more of plan for how I want this story to go, so it may actually start to have a plot (lmao we all know thats not going to happen)**_

* * *

About a week into our time at Camp Mackall, we were completing field exercises, and as expected, Captain Sobel was clueless and fidgety. I was laying over the mound of dirt forming the wall of our protective ditch, rifle set and ready for Captain Sobel to screw-up even more.

"Oh Christ," Petty mumbled, I contained a groan. This could only mean one thing: Sobel was lost. I watched as Winters slid into our ditch, conversing with Sobel. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but it seemed as though Winters was trying to convince Sobel of something. And based on the look on Winters' face, it wasn't going well.

"Second Platoon, move out." Winters ordered.

"What?" Skip asked, in disbelief.

"Tactical column." Winters was trying to make the best of the situation. We all climbed out of our ditch, not bothering with the tactical column, but rather we moved as an amorphous form.

"Captain, you've just been killed, along with 95% of your company." We all grimaced at each other. "Your outfit?" The major in charge asked Sobel.

"Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506."

"Leave three wounded men on the ground and report back to the assembly area." Sobel picked three men, and I was glad to not be one of them.

* * *

Before we knew it we were moving out again. Waiting for order to load up, Cobb, Toye, Popeye, Shifty and I were sitting and talking about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

"Goddamn, you gotta admit, he's got no chance." Cobb was saying. "Either the Krauts will get him, or one of us."

"Who, Sobel?" Liebgott asked, coming over and sitting with us.

"He screwed up one maneuver," Shifty said.

"In the worst way possible! Are you actually defending the ass?" I replied, incredulous.

"Even his own baby sister doesn't like him!" Cobb pointed out.

"Ah you know I'm always fumbling with grenades." Liebgott interjected, looking spiffy in his tie and cap. "It would be easy for one to go off on accident." He shot me a wink.

"Well they must have put him in charge for some reason." Shifty said. I nearly choked on my own laughter.

"Yeah, 'cause the Army wouldn't make a mistake, right Shift?" Liebgott said, and I followed his gaze to Lipton, who had paused to look at us.

From the trucks we boarded a train.

"Now I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sleeping." I said, plopping down and curling up into a ball.

"Suit yourself," George replied, sitting next to me. And then I was out like a light.

"So where do you think we're headed Luz?" Someone, it sounded like Perconte, asked, awakening me from my slumber.

"Ah hell, I don't know Frank. The moon." I giggled, turning to the side to face them.

"Well good morning, Sleeping Beauty!" George joked.

"What a fucking fairytale I'm living." I grumbled.

"Well someone's grumpy in the morning." Liebgott added, stepping over Perconte's legs to sit across from me.

"Shut up." I curled back into a ball, attempting to fall asleep again.

"So rumour is we're heading to England." Liebgott said, turning to George.

"Yeah well that's great. I also hear rumours that we're headed to California, so until we get an official word I couldn't give a crap." George said, obviously irritated. They continued talking, and I nodded off again.

I awoke a few hours later to someone poking my cheek.

"Time to wake up, princess." George said with a huge shit-eating grin.

"Five more minutes, mom!" I called out, overly dramatizing my pain in waking up.

"Nope, we're moving out. So unless you want to go AWOL and stay behind…"

* * *

We were boarded on a large ship in the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard. From the deck we watched the Statue of Liberty, our hands gripping the rails. For most, the Statue of Liberty was the first thing they saw upon entering the country; but for us it was the last. Like immigrants we were being shipped off to a new land, and unsure of what to expect.

The room we were bunked in was beyond crowded—rows of stacked bunks were separated by a few feet of walking space.

I came back from the latrines to see a tangle of men.

"What's going on here?" I asked Perconte, who was standing on the edge of the fray.

"Bill called Sobel a Jew, and Liebgott took offence because he's also a Jew. Hey—where're you going?"

I climbed up on the bunks, and then over so I was above the fight.

"Hey!" I shouted in the most commanding voice I could muster. "Cut it out!"

Lieb continued fighting, but started talking towards me, "this prick called Sobel—your brother—a Son of Abraham."

"So? It's true. Why the fuck are you fighting over religion?"

With one last "fuck" and a push, Liebgott stepped away and got back to his bunk, lighting a cigarette. I got down from my perch and got into my own bunk, which was directly below his.

"Mommy, tell me a story." Don joked, giving me a look.

"Yeah tell us a story, Princess!" This came from Luz.

"Alright, alright. So when I was seven, and Herbert was 12 we used to pretend we were adventurers. Well more like he led the adventure, and I was one of the men he took along his expeditions."

"What a selfish prick," Toye muttered.

"Hey, don't interrupt." Don shushed Joe, before looking back at me, "continue."

"Anyways, we lived in a Jewish inner-city neighborhood, so there weren't any forests or anything to explore. Mostly we just climbed up the fire escapes to get to the roofs of buildings. Most of the fire escapes went all the way up to the roof, so this was no problem. There was one building, just down the alleyway next to our building, that had a fire escape that only went up to the top story windows. Now Herbert would jump up onto the ledge and pull himself over, but I was always too afraid to. Every time he'd try to convince me it was nothing, to jump and he'd help me up. But every time I was afraid I'd fall backwards over the railing and down to my death in the streets. I mean, I'm afraid of heights and falling, and this just combined the two and—"

"Wait, hold up, you're afraid of heights and falling, but you decided to join the paratroopers. We literally fall out of an airplane at 1500 feet." Liebgott pointed out, flipping over the bottom of his bunk to peer at me.

I stole his cigarette, taking a puff, "that's with a parachute, it's different."

"Jesus." He rolled his eyes, ignoring his now missing cigarette.

"As I was saying, I was too scared to jump up, so Herbert would explore the roof without me, and then report back with his findings. One day, however, he pushed me up first, holding me up so that I wouldn't be scared, and then jumped up himself. That roof was like any ordinary Chicago roof—chimneys and pigeons. And after all the excitement and anticipation it was a complete and utter disappointment." I finished.

"Jesus, tell a happy tale for once." Don commented.

"Seriously, you asked the most sadistic person you know—except maybe Bill or Luz—to tell a story, and you expected it to be happy? Donald Malarkey you are an idiot."

"Hey, at least now we know Sobel has a heart." Tab pointed out, "buried deep within."  
"Hey maybe his leather jacket keeps it hidden." Muck added.

"Nah, whatever hear he had is gone now, got it whipped out of him at boarding school." I said.

"Hey Joann, did you go to boarding school?" Lieb asked.

"Nah, Public School all the way. I figured I turned fine none-the-less."

"Yeah, you're a hundred times better than your brother." George said.

"George was that a compliment?"

"Nah, a hundred times zero is still zero."

"Hey guys, contrary to popular belief, George does have a brain!"

"You laugh, but remember I'll be the one calling you a jeep when you get your stupid ass shot up."

We continued joking late into the night, none of us able to sleep in the heat and smoke that hung in the room like bricks don't.

* * *

**_So if you want to skip this go ahead, I'm just doing a personal thank you to my reviewers._**

**_ .77: Hope you liked this chapter :) And of course Sobel is going to attempt to find a way to get her to leave, but she's pretty stubborn, so we'll see how that goes. _**

**_Crazyforkasey: yeah, I've been trying to incorporate in her past, like in the story she tells. Once she gets into combat, I was thinking of adding flashbacks to her childhood and what not triggered by the fighting environment. _**

**_BoBfan: Thanks for the review, I hope you liked this chapter! :) _**


	7. Chapter 7

_**I am so unhappy with this chapter. Like i kind of hate it. but i've been having major writers block lately so i just had to get this out there. **_

**_Thank you for your reviews and follows and favorites, they make me very happy on this inside. _**

We were staying in Aldbourne, England. The higher-ups had us run through countless training exercises in preparation for the war.

England was nice in September. In fact, I was admiring the weather when I fell. The fall was only a few feet down the stairs, but it was enough to make my knee turn in a way that knees should not turn. Luckily for me, Malarkey was walking by and saw me lying on the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Christ, Jo, how did ya manage that?" He asked, pointing to my knee.

"Fell down these here stairs, you know, with my usual clumsiness. Will you help me up?"

"Yeah let's get you to Doc Roe."

* * *

"Looks like you dislocated it, might have torn somethin', can't really tell. I'm gonna have to pop it back into place."

I grimaced, awaiting the pain that would come. I tried to not scream, instead i dug my teeth into my tongue, drawing a bit of blood. It had hurt. A lot.

"Alright, I'm gonna put a splint on it. You're not to do anything for a couple days, and after that I want you to keep the splint on and take it easy."

As it were, my injury prevented me from being on the marvelous field exercise George Luz called "The Day of the Lost Captain." Except he was lost all the time, so this could apply to many different days.

"And he starts patting himself down and turned in a circle like a dog chasing its tail looking for his wire cutters." George was telling me the story from my bed in the makeshift hospital. "And then we finally get to the crossroad and Sobel's screaming 'HI-YO SILVER!' and Winters just had this look, you should have been there, Jo."

"I wish I was Luz, I wish I was. Being stuck here is so _boring_ and pointless, I'd rather be training with you guys. "

"Nah, wouldn't want you hurting yourself even more. I gotta go, don't want to miss chow. When's Roe letting you out?"

"Well, it's been two days, so I'm breaking out tomorrow, whether he likes it or not." I gave George a wink as he patted my shoulder goodbye.

Doc Roe obviously realized my frustration and let me out later that night. It hurt to walk, and it was impossible to run, but I was tired of feeling useless.

The training continued. Marches, hand-to-hand combat lessons, classroom lessons, you name it, we did it. I ran despite the excruciating pain and warning looks from Roe. A few weeks passed before we heard really bad news. I mean _really _bad.

"We lost Winters to Battalion Mess." Ranney came in with the news.

"You're shitting me." This came from Tab. I was hanging out with the NCOs in their barn, which technically I wasn't allowed into, but nobody cared.

"Private Sobel?" Evans ventured in.

"Yes Sir."

"Captain Sobel wishes to speak to you." I nodded and watched Evans leave.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. I nodded a goodbye as the others continued their conversation about Winters.

I entered the Company Office, "Sir?" At Captain Sobel's nod I entered the room.

"Private, I'm noticing that you are acting too comfortable with the men." He said, not even looking up from his paperwork.

"I don't understand sir."

"Private, I believe that you are distracting the men from their duty."

"Permission to speak, sir?"

"Denied." I tried not to show my anger and discomfort. "There is a wonderful opportunity for you to join the Women's Army Corps as a Lieutenant. I think you will be better suited there."

"Sir, no disrespect sir, but I've already trained with Easy Company and the 506th. I see no reason to switch to the WAC when I've already undergone training here. I'm a part of this company, sir, and I've earned my jump wings already." I tried to convince him not to transfer me.

"Your behavior is of concern here, not your training, Private."

"To be frank sir, I'd rather be Court Martialed for my behavior than transferred to the Women's Corps."

"So be it."

* * *

"Jesus Christ, Bill, why the hell did you do that?" Bill and the others had just come back from Colonel Sink's office.

"I will not follow Captain Sobel into combat!" He replied.

"Yeah well he could have had y'all shot, you know that?"

"But he didn't, and if he had it would have been worth it. Sobel would have gotten us killed anyway, Jo." I just sighed.

"So what's this I hear about a Court Martial, Jo?" Lieutenant Nixon walked in.

"Oh, Sobel thought my behavior around the men was inappropriate, so so he wanted to transfer me to the WAC but I refused, saying I'd prefer to be Court Martialed due to my behavior."

"Damn Jo, now we might lose Winters _and _you!" This came from Malarkey, who like me, had snuck into the NCO's barn and was playing cards with Lipton and Tab.

"Well he has no grounds to Court Martial me on, I mean, I hang out with you guys, but it's never been anything inappropriate."

"Yeah well, watch yourself, ok?" Nixon added, ducking back out of the barn.

* * *

About a week later the best news we had had in a while came in.

"Sobel's been transferred!" Lieb came into the barracks where I was reading_ Huckleberry Finn_ again. There was only a few of us in there, but the celebrating was rambunctious non-the-less.

Muck and Penkala threw up the cards they were playing with, some sort of mock confetti. Lieb and George gave me a giant bear hug, and as I looked around, the others were celebrating in their own special ways.

"What the hell happened here?" Nixon, who was known for popping up in random places walked in.

"We just heard that Sobel was transferred, Nix!" I told him.

"Ohhhh…. Well don't get too excited, we're moving out soon."


	8. Chapter 8

Err... hi.

So i'm just letting you know i'm currently not working on this story anymore, i just feel like i left out so many things, and could have improved this story a lot if i had written it a different way, so maybe i'll re-write it later, but for now i'm no longer going to continue writing. Thank you so much for reading though, and i would still greatly appreciate any feedback or ideas you have for the story, so when i do go to re-write it i can use those reviews.

I'll post a note when i edit/rewrite so that you know. When i do, it'll follow the same story line, but maybe from a different angle.


	9. Chapter 9

Hi again! So i started a new story where i added a twin sister to Joann, just so that i could develop someone with a different personality type, and other possible pairings. It will more than likely still be Joann/Liebgott, but the other sister i'm still deciding. You can get to it from my profile, i hope.

Thanks you SO FREAKING MUCH for all your reviews, they're really helpful, and i'll take most of them into consideration when writing my new fanfiction, with your help (please?) i WILL FINISH it, i will go all the way to the end with this fanfiction, it might take a while, but i will!

THank you and have a nice day/night :)


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